Woman breaks the record for running without sleep

A New Zealand woman has broken the world record for running without sleep —
covering 311 miles in 86 hours

Kim Allan in training for the endurance event

By Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney

6:24PM GMT 22 Dec 2013

Kim Allan, a 47-year-old mother of four, broke the record in Auckland after completing 332 laps of a circuit in Auckland. She finally passed the record early on Sunday evening, but her support team did not tell her because they wanted her to keep running to reach 311 miles — equivalent to about 12 marathons.

“We didn’t want her to give her an excuse to stop,” said Michael Rodliffe, who was there to support her.

“In two hours time when she’s finished the 500 [kilometres], we’ll celebrate.”

When she on the verge of reaching the 40-mile mark - about seven hours into the run - Ms Allan admitted to a local reporter who ran alongside her to interview her that she did not particularly enjoy running.

“To be honest, going out on a two-hour training run is just a drag,” she said.

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“There’s ultra runners who go out and train huge miles - that’s not me It’s the beating my own mind that I like. Thinking you can’t do something then you go out and do it.”

Ultra-marathon runners typically rely on support crews to hand them with food as they run to limit the number of stops they have to make.

The vegetarian and former jockey endured stomach pain and was forced to cut the tops of her shoes off to relieve her blisters. She passed the 500-kilometre mark after 86 hours, 11 minutes and 9 seconds and finally stopped running; her team members said she was overwhelmed but “cognitive”.

“A 3am this morning it looked like the whole thing could go pear-shaped, but once the sun came up she rallied,” Mark Gray, another supporter, told NZ Newswire.

Ms Allan, a single mother, took up running four years ago but failed to reach the record last year after suffering “scary” hallucinations and losing all her toe nails. She ran non-stop for 85 hours but covered 234 miles, short of the record set in 2005 by Pam Reed, a United States athlete who ran 302 miles in just over 80 hours.

Ms Allan was a professional jockey but suffered a severe leg break a decade ago which eventually prompted her to take up ultra distance running as part of her recovery.

“I swore then, 'I’m never going to take for granted the ability to get out of bed and walk,’” she said.

Ms Allan was joined on her circuits of her Auckland Domain by well-wishers and five or six supporters who kept her company at night. She started her run on Thursday at about 6am and finished on Sunday night.

Ms Allan was raising money for a charity that supports people with spinal injuries.